Italian ryegrass can produce very high quality, leafy, palatable forage suitable for high producing dairy cows. As a cool-season bunch grass, it is best adapted to cool, moist conditions. It does not grow as well in hot, dry summer weather. In Ontario it has been seeded in early spring (April, early-May) for harvesting that year. More recently, it has been seeded in August for harvest in late-fall and then again during the following year. This can provide an excellent double-crop option, but the risk of winterkill must be managed.
Perennial ryegrass is also grown in forage mixtures in Ontario, although it has some issues with persistence. Some ryegrasses are intermediate in characteristics between Westerwold, Italian and perennial, so it is important to buy a reputable variety or brand.
There are diploid and tetraploid varieties. Diploid varieties tend to have more dense tillering and better winter survival. Tetraploids have faster germination and regrowth, higher yields, and greater rust resistance. Some seed companies sell brands that contain blends of both diploid and tetraploid varieties in order to balance persistence with yield and quality.
Italian ryegrass can offer a good double-crop forage option by seeding after winter wheat or cereal harvest in August or early-September for a fall harvest, subsequent over-wintering, and then cutting again in May. Early-August is the optimum time to seed to allow for more growth and an earlier harvest. There is always a risk of winterkill which can be partially mitigated by variety selection and fall cutting management. There was a higher incidence of winterkill following the harsh winter of 2014. When winterkill does occur, consider that the ryegrass has provided excellent winter cover crop benefits, and possibly also some late-fall forage. Nothing has been lost, as there is still the opportunity to plant an alternate crop in that field in the spring.
Because Italian ryegrass will not elongate a stem and produce a seed head in the year of seeding, the fall growth will be all leaf, short but very thick. It can be harvested at a 4 inch cutting height about 8 -10 weeks after seeding. Harvested in October or very early-November, it will be difficult to wilt and will need to be harvested at a high moisture level.
Characteristics
Italian ryegrass, Lolium multiflorum Lam., is native to southern Europe, Italian ryegrass is a cool-season, annual or biennial bunchgrass. Mature plants grow 1 to 3 feet tall. Stems (culms) are often purplish at the base and consist of nodes and internodes.
Habitat
Italian ryegrass regenerates entirely by seed and germinates readily with sufficient moisture. The plant is best adapted to cool, moist climates, and grows best between 68 and 77F. It is highly shade intolerant but can adapt too many climatic conditions. Italian ryegrass grows in a wide range of soil types, although it prefers fertile, well-drained soils.
Impact
Italian ryegrass is a problematic weed in cereal crops and grass seed crops. It establishes quickly and grows rapidly. For that reason, in certain areas it is planted as a cover crop and quick food source. Italian ryegrass is very palatable and nutritious for livestock and most wild ruminants and is planted in many pasture settings.
The North Fork is home to many farms and wine vineyards. It was love at first sight and would serve as a great place for my parents to retire to. They eventually purchased a home in nearby Mattituck in 2001. The new mini farm is now 125 feet X 125 feet, is complete with a decent sized green house, and is enclosed by a fence to protect it from hungry animals. He now has room to grow just about anything he wants to. His greenhouse is home to 17 lemon trees! There are pumpkin and watermelon patches. This summer we counted 22 watermelons, one weighing in at a whopping 30 pounds!
Ryegrasses are the most popular and best-adapted cool-season grasses in most of the world. Most of the ryegrass grown in the US is in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast; however, there are areas in the Midwest where it is also grown including Michigan. A 1995 survey estimated perennial ryegrass forage production at 110,000 acres each for the Pacific Northeast and northeastern US. For the Midwest, the estimate in 1997 was 20000-25,000 acres. Estimated acreage in Michigan is less than 10,000 acres, used primarily in pastures.
Perennial ryegrass grows best in cool, moist climates,. The crop grows well in early spring and fall, but during the hot summer months it becomes dormant. Even with irrigation or abundant summer rainfall, perennial ryegrass production suffers due to high temperature stress when day temperatures exceed 86 F and night temperatures exceed 77 F. It is more sensitive to temperature extremes and drought than annual ryegrass. Perennial ryegrass is less winter-hardy than orchardgrass and tall fescue and less drought tolerant than smooth bromegrass.
Research in Wisconsin by Casler and Walgenbach in 1990 and Novery et al., 1995), however suggest that perennial ryegrass is able to survive severe climates, even where snow cover is unreliable. Optimum growth occurs between 68-77 F. Perennial ryegrass grows best on fertile, well-drained soils but has a wide range of soil adaptability. It is tolerant of poorly drained soils and frequently is used in these environments. It tolerates both acid and alkaline oils, with a pH range of approximately 5.0 to 8.3. Similar to tall fescue, perennial ryegrass is adapted to shade in the warmer portions of a cool, humid climate where winter kill is not a problem. In Michigan grazing studies, we have found perennial ryegrass less persistent than other perennial temperate grass species such as orchardgrass, tall fescue, timothy smooth bromegrass and Kentucky bluegrass.
In a co-culture study seeded in two locations in the spring and summer, one summer seeding was significantly injured by cold winter conditions at Lake City, Mich., while the remaining three seedings were not adversely affected by weather. Despite these limitations, the high nutritional value of perennial ryegrass makes it the pasture grass of choice for areas with wet, mild temperate climates like the Pacific Northwest and northeast U.S., Great Britain, and New Zealand. In grazing trials at Lake City and Chatham, Mich. perennial ryegrass was the preferred grass species by grazing cattle, compared to several other cool season grasses grown.
There are two different crops within Italian and perennial ryegrass forage species, the diploids and tetraploids. Tetraploids have fewer, but larger, tillers with wider leaves, which result in more open-type sods, and tetrapods are generally somewhat less persistent than diploids. Studies in Ireland with lactating dairy cows have shown significant increases in milk production while grazing tetraploids compared to diploid or by the more erect growth pattern of tetraploids.
Under Michigan conditions with less rainfall and higher summer temperatures than Europe, we expect economical responses from N applications up to 150-200 lbs. per acre in pure ryegrass stands under adequate rainfall or irrigation. Applications of total yearly N should be split, as evenly as possibly to reflect the continuing need for nitrogen throughout the growing season taking weather conditions into account. The first application should be applied at the beginning of the season and the others after each harvest or grazing cycle except the last. This application system produces a greater annual yield and better quality forage than does a single, early spring application and results in better utilization of applied nitrogen.
Nitrogen (N2) fixation by rhizobia bacteria nodules found on legume root hairs can provide significant amounts of N to ryegrass growing with the legume. However, high levels of N2 fixation rates per unit area of white clover/grass can be maintained only under very low soil mineral N level conditions, which limit grass competitiveness. This causes white clover (Trifolium repens L.) perennial ryegrass communities dependent on symbiotic fixation as the sole N source to be in chronic N deficiency and below theirpasture yield potential.
The impact of applying fertilizer N to a well-managed grass and white clover pasture is to reduce N2 fixation. Moderate rates of N up to 70 lbs. per acre usually reduce N2 fixation about one half. Higher rates over 125-150 lbs. per acres are likely to eliminate N2 fixation entirely. The size of the effect is influenced by factors such as the time of year of fertilizer application, the frequency of defoliation, soil moisture and other nutrients, and the form of fertilizer N. Frequent defoliation minimizes the effect by reducing the competition of the grass. In dry areas, irrigation can offset some of the effect by diluting the inorganic N in the vicinity of the nodules, encouraging rapid growth, and maintaining available energy supplies for fixation.
When rotational grazing is used, pastures should be rested for a minimum of two weeks. following grazing, but longer if growing conditions such as dry or hot weather cause slower regrowth. Some researchers suggested using three leaves per tiller as a convenient basis for timing defoliation. This recommendation was based on the onset of senescence and the restoration of water soluble carbohydrate reserves following the full expansion of three leaves on the ryegrass plant. yields of perennial ryegrass have been shown to be higher under rotational than continuous grazing.
If you have lots of nutrients on the farm, Italian ryegrass can be a good choice to utilize and recycle those nutrients. It can be easily used to extend thinning alfalfa or mixed stands for one more year. This will result in high yields of excellent quality forage without the hassle of a total stand renovation. With its upright growth habit, Italian ryegrass is better suited to mechanical harvest than grazing, but we have many folks who successfully graze it. Like perennial ryegrass, the waxy coating on Italian ryegrass retards drydown so it isn't a good choice for dry hay.
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